A former Tory cabinet minister leaps to Reform and turns the issue of Kemi Badenoch’s authority into a test of Conservative survival

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch’s decision to sack her shadow justice minister, Robert Jenrick, due to his impending defection was not so much about damage control as the first shot of civil war on the right. With Mr Jenrick shifting publicly to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, the issue became less about party discipline and more about the Conservatives’ political viability. Mr Jenrick says he left because Britain is broken and the Tories refused to acknowledge their role in breaking it. His claim rests on a self-serving distinction: that the damage was done by a party he served, but not by him.

Despite her improving polls, Mrs Badenoch is still recovering from the devastating 2024 election loss. With ambitious colleagues coveting her job, she could not afford to tolerate dissent. By acting she exposed a deeper fragility in UK rightwing politics. Mr Jenrick was not merely a restless colleague but a plausible alternative centre of gravity. His embrace of hardline populism could attract Reform voters; he had support among party members; and he was ambitious enough to believe his moment had arrived. Mrs Badenoch calculated that delay, in such circumstances, could be fatal.

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A former Tory cabinet minister leaps to Reform and turns the issue of Kemi Badenoch’s authority into a test of Conservative survival

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch’s decision to sack her shadow justice minister, Robert Jenrick, due to his impending defection was not so much about damage control as the first shot of civil war on the right. With Mr Jenrick shifting publicly to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, the issue became less about party discipline and more about the Conservatives’ political viability. Mr Jenrick says he left because Britain is broken and the Tories refused to acknowledge their role in breaking it. His claim rests on a self-serving distinction: that the damage was done by a party he served, but not by him.

Despite her improving polls, Mrs Badenoch is still recovering from the devastating 2024 election loss. With ambitious colleagues coveting her job, she could not afford to tolerate dissent. By acting she exposed a deeper fragility in UK rightwing politics. Mr Jenrick was not merely a restless colleague but a plausible alternative centre of gravity. His embrace of hardline populism could attract Reform voters; he had support among party members; and he was ambitious enough to believe his moment had arrived. Mrs Badenoch calculated that delay, in such circumstances, could be fatal.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

A former Tory cabinet minister leaps to Reform and turns the issue of Kemi Badenoch’s authority into a test of Conservative survival

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch’s decision to sack her shadow justice minister, Robert Jenrick, due to his impending defection was not so much about damage control as the first shot of civil war on the right. With Mr Jenrick shifting publicly to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, the issue became less about party discipline and more about the Conservatives’ political viability. Mr Jenrick says he left because Britain is broken and the Tories refused to acknowledge their role in breaking it. His claim rests on a self-serving distinction: that the damage was done by a party he served, but not by him.

Despite her improving polls, Mrs Badenoch is still recovering from the devastating 2024 election loss. With ambitious colleagues coveting her job, she could not afford to tolerate dissent. By acting she exposed a deeper fragility in UK rightwing politics. Mr Jenrick was not merely a restless colleague but a plausible alternative centre of gravity. His embrace of hardline populism could attract Reform voters; he had support among party members; and he was ambitious enough to believe his moment had arrived. Mrs Badenoch calculated that delay, in such circumstances, could be fatal.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .